


Demarche

by devilinthedetails



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Diplomacy, Gen, Politics, Silly Reason for War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 20:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20476772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: Padme is dispatched by Chancellor Palpatine to negotiate peace between two cities.





	Demarche

Demarche

“A fine vintage of emerald wine, Chancellor,” Padme complimented the refined taste of her host as she sat on a sofa in his office, admiring the bright red paint of his walls and waiting for him to explain why he had summoned her suddenly when the Senate would now be in recess for several weeks. She swirled her flute of wine, inhaling the rich scent that reminded her of the vineyards of emerald grapes in Naboo’s verdant countryside. It was a reminder of her homeworld on faraway Coruscant. A homeworld she was eager to visit while the Senate was in recess. She had parents to hug, nieces to spoil, a sister to tease, a queen to update on her progress in the Senate, and citizens of Naboo to see going about their daily business as a reminder of the people she forever aimed to serve. 

“A hundred year old bottle from Naboo.” Chancellor Palpatine lifted his glass in salute. “A tribute to your homeworld, Senator, and to mine, of course.” 

“To Naboo.” Padme clinked her flute against his in a toast, and they sipped at the same time. 

Silence fell between them and Padme let it linger until Chancellor Palpatine remarked, “I imagine you must be eager to return to Naboo.” At her nod, he emitted a regretful sigh and head shake. “I’m afraid duty may require you to travel elsewhere during this recess.” 

“Is that so?” Padme arched an eyebrow. 

“I have a diplomatic mission for you I would entrust to nobody else.” Chancellor’s Palpatine’s penetrating eyes fixed on hers. “Have you heard of the planet Zegarb?” 

“No.” A faint frown appeared in Padme’s forehead at her ignorance of galactic geography. “I’m afraid I haven’t.” 

“A small planet with a limited water supply populated by humanoids who are capable of making themselves invisible to humans and other members of their species.” Chancellor Palpatine took a delicate sip of his wine. “It might be an adaptation of the civil wars that occur regularly between the two cities that contain a bulk of their population and constantly compete for water access. For the past three decades, the civil wars there have been so frequent and bloody that Zegarb has been unable to elect a representative to send to the Senate. Recently there has been a temporary truce between the two factions who have appealed to me to dispatch an official ambassador from the Senate to preside over negotiations on fair water use for their two cities.” 

“They could agree on a demarche then,” Padme mused, studying how her emerald wine reflected and refracted the lights in Chancellor Palpatine’s office. “Perhaps there is hope for a more permanent detente.” 

“I knew you would see such hope.” The lines of Chancellor Palpatine’s face cracked into a slight smile. “That’s why I wish to appoint you to serve as ambassador to Zegarb on my behalf should you be brave enough to accept this mission. You were, after all, so successful at forging an alliance with the Gungans of Naboo.” 

“I will be brave enough to accept, and I will succeed.” Padme set her flute of wine on a table, prepared to stand and leave immediately. Her luggage should have been packed by her handmaidens and stowed aboard her starship. Only the starship’s destination would have to change from Naboo to Zegrab. 

“Both parties have guaranteed your safety on Zegrab throughout the negotiations.” Chancellor Palpatine wore a vaguely troubled expression as if worried that she was being too impulsive. “I spoke of bravery, but you mustn’t be foolhardy, Senator. If you ever have cause to doubt your safety on Zegarb, you must leave at once.” 

“I assure you I will not risk my life needlessly, Chancellor.” Padme resisted the urge to bristle at his almost condescending concern. Forcing a pleasant tone, she offered her formal farewell to the Chancellor and left for the landing pad where her starship awaited her. 

Captain Typho was disgruntled to learn of the change in plan as her pilot entered Zegarb’s coordinates into the navcomputer and sought clearance for departure from Coruscant’s planetary security. 

“The Chancellor wishes to send you into a war zone.” He scowled as Padme explained their destination and diplomatic mission. “He doesn’t value your life as I do.” 

“It’s not an active war zone.” Padme laid a soothing palm on the arm of the man who headed her security detail. “There’s a truce between the two sides that might become permanent if I can broker a lasting treaty.” 

“A truce might seem guaranteed from a distance.” Captain Typho snorted. “On the surface, reality might be very different.” 

“The Chancellor has given me permission to leave Zegarb at once if I ever have cause to doubt my safety on the planet.” Padme hoped this would appease her chief of security. 

“How very kind of the Chancellor.” Captain Typho’s grunt suggested he didn’t think the offer was so generous or that Padme would take advantage of it if the need arose. On the latter count, he was most likely correct, Padme mentally conceded. She wasn’t about to flee from her duty to promote peace on any world in Republic space. It was her duty as a Senator to promote peace wherever necessary. 

In the comfort of the lounge, her handmaidens Corde and Verse were in their own ways as dismissive of the prospect of peace on Zegarb. 

“The two cities of Zegarb have been waging civil wars against each other on and off for centuries.” Corde’s dubious face was lit by the blue glow of her datapad as she contemplated an article on Zegarb’s tumultuous history. “What makes the Chancellor believe that a lasting peace can be negotiated this time?” 

“Nobody believed an alliance was possible between the Gungans and the Naboo either.” Padme glanced up from her own research into the politics of Zegarb. “Yet Boss Nass and I negotiated one.”

“That only happened because our world would’ve been destroyed if we didn’t unite to fight the Trade Federation,” Verse pointed out as if she had been present when Padme had negotiated an alliance with Boss Nass even though she hadn’t entered Padme’s service until Padme was elected Senator. 

“Zegarb could be destroyed in its own way if the two sides can’t reach a settlement.” Padme pressed a button on her datapad to project a map of Zegarb’s surface—blighted by centuries of civil war—so that it filled the lounge where they sat. “Their endless conflicts ruin the very infrastructure, the dams and the pipes, they need to use the little water they have.” 

“That’s why the reason for war is so silly.” Corde’s eyes rolled. “They fight over their limited water supply without realizing they’re destroying the infrastructure they need to harness the water for their use.” 

“Our rift with the Gungans would have seemed ludicrous to an outsider.” Padme shook her head in reproach of Corde’s lack of diplomatic perspective. “We must understand rather than judge those on Zegarb if we are to negotiate peace between the two factions.” 

“Yes, my lady.” Corde bowed her head, accepting the mild reprimand. 

As the cruiser cut through the durasteel gray clouds of Zegarb, Padme swept an appraising gaze over her veda robes. “Do I look presentable enough to meet the delegates from the two cities?” 

“You look absolutely perfect to me.” Verse straightened a final wrinkle in Padme’s robes. 

“It’s cloudy,” Padme murmured to her handmaidens as the boarding ramp lowered and she stepped down from the cruiser, her handmaidens and Captain Typho’s security guards flanking her. “I hope that’s not a poor omen for our negotiations.” 

As the delegates of the two cities strode across the landing pad to greet her with deep bows, Padme mentally updated this forecast to cloudy with a side of Zegarbian meatballs for as the delegates rose from their bows, they each extended steaming plates of the traditional welcoming dish of Zegarbian meatballs to her. 

Recalling from her reading on the customs of Zegarb that to refuse these meatballs was to insult her hosts by rebuffing their hospitality, Padme accepted a meatball from each platter. The meatballs made from ground nerf and bantha meat were dipped in sauce flavored with spices native to Zegarb. It was remarkable, she thought, that two cultures who couldn’t agree on fair water use would create the same welcoming dishes. 

“I thank you for your warm welcome and delicious meatballs.” Padme inclined her head, hoping that they would cross over to the speeder she could see on the far end of the landing platform before rain fell from the ominous clouds darkening Zegarb’s sky. 

“I’m the mayor of this city of Croa.” One of the delegates seemed eager to advance the arguments of his city as he guided her toward the speeder with a hand on her elbow. “This city is upstream of the city of Reav that claims to have as much right to the water as we do.” 

“Being upstream of Reav doesn’t give Croa the right to claim all the water and leave none for the citizens of Reav,” retorted the second delegate as he grabbed Padme’s other elbow, helping her into the speeder along with the delegate from his rival city. “Besides much of the infrastructure in terms of dams that are needed to harness the water have been built by the citizens of Reav rather than the citizens of Croa. The citizens of Reav deserve compensation for their efforts.” 

The speeder took off as Padme allowed both sides to lodge their complaints against each other so that she could understand the position of each faction and hopefully arrange a settlement between the two fighting cities. While her ears focused on the conversation in the speeder, her eyes drank in the city of Croa as she flew through it. 

Her gaze was drawn to a park bench with peeling blue paint. The grass around it wasn’t green but rust-colored as if it had been subjected to drought. On the bench, sat an eerie sight: a black-and-white plaid skirt, black gloves, a black coat, and a white scarf. The humanoid who must have been wearing them had made herself invisible as if she was prepared for war to break out again on Zegarb—as if the negotiations had already failed. 

In her heart, Padme made a promise to this invisible woman on the park bench that she would not fail her: that the negotiations would not collapse and a lasting peace would be achieved between the two cities of Zegarb. She wouldn’t leave Zegarb until she had accomplished that for the woman on the park bench regardless of what she had promised Palpatine and Captain Typho about ensuring her own safety. Following her ideals was more important to her than guaranteeing her safety. That was why she had become a queen and then a Senator. Not to be safe but to make a difference in the galaxy—to advocate for others who couldn’t advocate for themselves and to bring peace where there was conflict.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 48 hour Mod Challenge at the Jedi Council Forum. My TV Trope was Silly Reason for War. My weather forecast was cloudy with a chance of meatballs. My random word was demarche, which means a course of action; a diplomatic or political maneuver. My recycled quote was "You look absolutely perfect to me." My picture prompt was an invisible women on a park bench with peeling blue paint.


End file.
